Where The Sun Never Rose
by LinkNotZelda
Summary: Post-Dark Dawn AU. Matthew keeps having the same nightmare every night. He's in a place he doesn't recognize, and it's so real it feels like that's where he should be. But then he wakes up in his hometown of Vale. And it feels so wrong it scares him. 'I borrowed the idea for this fic from Devano's 'Golden Sun: Vortex Mystery'. Please read his story too so I don't feel bad.'
1. Prologue: An Unwelcome Sight

I almost forgot the Disclaimer. I don't own GOLDEN SUN. I wish I did, because them there would be an anime adaption and a fourth game.

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><p><strong><em>The sun was setting as the blond boy hiked up the plateau, his two close friends behind him, bickering as they always were.<em>**

**_"You just HAD to hit it," the jade-haired girl scolded the spiky-haired redhead. "You know monsters don't like being punched."_**

**_The redhead scoffed. "I had it under control, Karis. It's not like it was gonna HURT me."_**

**_"That's what every idiot in history has said before they died of a moronic mistake they could have prevented, Tyrell." Karis shook her head in exasperation and narrowed her amethyst eyes, the movement causing her ponytail to bounce lightly._**

**_Tyrell sighed, getting the attention of the blond. "Matthew, please tell Karis that she worries too much."_**

**_Matthew rolled his blue-gray eyes before turning around, smirking. "With her boyfriend being such an idiot, sometimes I wonder if she worries enough."_**

**_Tyrell spluttered incoherently and nearly fell flat on his face while Karis' turned an interesting shade of purple. "WHAT the HEL are you talking about man!?" Tyrell finally got out._**

**_"We are not, nor ever will be, a couple!" Karis nearly screamed, her face having faded to a more normal red color._**

**_"Are you guys still trying to keep it a secret?" Matthew studied their faces when he said this, noting the flicker of surprise. "Because to be honest, everybody knows."_**

**_The look on their faces was too much for Matthew, and he turned to face the front again before he busted out laughing. Those two were hopeless. Grinning, Matthew's good mood continued to rise. Soon they would be home, and he would see his father, and then he could sleep for a week. Yes, life would finally be back to normal again._**

**_And then he crested the top of the plateau and the thought instantly died._**

**_Waiting for them at the top was a view of Mt. Aleph and the surrounding area. The volcano was surrounded by crags and rivers of molten lava. That hadn't changed in thirty years. Until now. Looming over the land between Goma Plateau and Mt. Aleph was a Psynergy Vortex of monster proportions._**

**_The three teenagers could only stare. "H-how big IS that thing?" Tyrell whispered, cowed by the atrocity in front of him._**

**_"Too big," Karis faintly replied, instinctively grabbing Tyrell's hand. Despite the severity of the situation, Matthew had to smile at that. They were SO an item._**

**_"Dad and Isaac," Tyrell said. "Where do you think they are?"_**

**_"Maybe they left a note?" Karis suggested. The two of them looked at each other, taking their eyes off the vortex for the briefest of seconds. But Matthew was watching. And he saw it pulse._**

**_"Down!" The normally soft-spoken Venus Adept yelled, pushing Tyrell and Karis over. The two rolled downhill a little ways, putting them out of the vortexes' reach. Matthew was not so lucky. __He had been unable to heed his own warning and was still standing when the pulse hit him squarely in the back. Instantly, he was exhausted as it drained him of all his psynergy. He felt his Djinn slipping into recovery mode one by one as he fell to the ground. He saw Tyrell screaming something, struggling to reach him, Karis holding him back, begging him to not leave her alone. '_Good_,' Matthew thought. '_Stay there or you'll end up like me_.'_**

**_And he sensed, more than felt, the Psynergy Vortex growing larger and larger, threatening to swallow him. "Run," Matthew managed to gasp out, begging his best friends to flee._**

**_The last thing he saw before the vortex covered him completely was the two of them tearing down the plateau, still holding hands._**


	2. Chapter One: The Never-Ending Nightmare

Matthew's eyes shot open as he abruptly sat up, gasping for air. His heart was pounding and his hair was plastered to his face by sweat. He took deep, even breaths as he brushed the hair out of his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart. A quick glance around showed him that yes, it had been a dream, and yes, he was still in his room.

The nightmares were getting worse. They had used to be just detail-less shapes, leaving him with only a vague sense of terror, but they had been getting sharper for weeks. Now it was a crystal-clear picture that tortured him every time he closed his eyes. And it was always that same one. Getting drained and swallowed by that black pit while begging his best friend and a girl he didn't recognize to save themselves. And always, always, Tyrell would say something at the end, something he couldn't hear, and it drove him mad.

Matthew swore that if he could just hear what he was saying, the nightmares would finally cease and he could get some real sleep.

The door creaked open and his mother entered the room. Tall, graceful, and almost always smiling, Jenna had been a beauty back when she was younger. Anybody would say that even though her figure was rounder than it used to be and her vibrant red hair was streaked with gray she still looked beautiful, but everybody knew they just said that so they wouldn't be on the receiving end of her temper. "Are you alright baby?" Concerned, Jenna placed her hand on Matthew's forehead. "I heard you crying."

Matthew let her hand stay there for a few seconds, enjoying the feeling of being cared for, before reminding himself of the fact that he was almost an adult and he did not need his mother to shoo away the bad dreams, and shook his head. "I was not," he said indignantly. "And it was just a nightmare."

"Another one?" Jenna asked, frowning.

"No," Matthew said defensively. "The same one. Just again."

Jenna sighed at her son's stubbornness and began to run her fingers through his spiky blond hair in an attempt to tame it. "Mom," Matthew complained, trying to wriggle out of her grasp, but it was futile. He was still sitting in bed and his mom was blocking the way to the door. There was no escaping now.

Jenna grinned as Matthew squirmed. "Sit still," she commanded. "As your mother, I have eternal right to play with your hair."

"No you don't," Matthew said, finally getting out of bed and away from his mother.

Jenna swatted him lightly. "Yes, I do. Now get dressed and come eat. Your father made breakfast though, so don't expect too much."

Making a face at the thought of what his father considered breakfast, Matthew waited until his mother had left before he slumped back down onto his bed, shaking. The dream was more than just a nightmare. Every morning, he woke up drained of all his psynergy, as if that hole really HAD sucked it all out of him. And his father had made breakfast, meaning after that came training. Drained as he was, he was going to get a beating.

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><p>The beating didn't come like he expected. After dressing and eating a nearly non-existent breakfast (Isaac believed that a full stomach interfered with one's ability to move quickly), the two of them had gone out into the yard, where Isaac and Matthew both picked up a wooden sword. Were someone to come across them, they would be struck by the fact that Matthew looked like a younger, smaller Isaac. The two looked eerily similar, except Isaac's eyes were a brighter blue and his hair was peppered with gray strands.<p>

Any other day, the two would've started trying to pummel each other until they were too tired to continue, but having no psynergy and no food in his stomach made Matthew lightheaded and weak. The practice sword was noticeably heavy and Matthew couldn't stand up straight, and they hadn't even STARTED yet. Isaac was a lot of things, but a fool was not one of them. Seeing his son swaying on his feet, the training fervor instantly faded, replaced with concern. "Are you all right?"

Stubbornly, Matthew said yes and angrily shook his head, trying to clear away the fatigue. He only succeeded in giving himself a headache. But again, Isaac was no fool. "Inside," Isaac commanded. When Matthew opened his mouth to protest, Isaac simply placed his hand on his shoulder and steered him into the house. Matthew didn't have the energy needed to resist.

Jenna looked up from her knitting in surprise when they entered. "Tired already?"

"Why don't you ask The Fool here?" Isaac said, sitting Matthew down on the couch. Jenna looked surprised while Matthew cringed inwardly. He could hear those capital letters, and that was never a good thing. It meant a lecture was coming. "Well?" Isaac asked, crossing his arms.

He got to speak before the lecture? That was a first. "I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all," Matthew mumbled, hoping his mother wouldn't hear.

No luck. Jenna gasped, acting for all the world like he had just said he was dying. "Why not? What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" She placed her hand on his forehead again. Matthew grumbled, trying to move away, but she followed him. "Or is it that nightmare you keep having?"

Matthew flinched, cursing the psychic abilities all mothers seemed to develop towards their children. Isaac frowned, another bad sign. His father was even worse than his mother when it came to illnesses and injuries. "What nightmare?"

"It's just a bad dream," Matthew snapped, trying to keep the irrational fear it caused him hidden. It must not have worked, because Isaac raised one eyebrow.

"Doesn't sound like one," Isaac remarked, trying to speak calmly and failing miserably. For some reason, hearing the worry in his father's voice only terrified Matthew more.

"It's nothing!" Matthew cried shrilly, his voice getting louder the more his father stared at him. But by the Wise One, it _wasn't_. It wasn't nothing. Even now, he could see Tyrell pulling the girl down the plateau behind him, both of them looking at him with horror and tears in their eyes, he could feel that...that _thing_ wrapping around him, dark and cold. He could feel it draining him, draining him dry, and it hurt. It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts-

With a shock, Matthew realized his head was in his hands and he was saying those last words out loud. Jenna was holding him, cooing gently and rocking him, rubbing his back and trying to figure out what was wrong. Isaac just stood there, staring. Then slowly, he reached out and placed his hand on Matthew's head. Matthew immediately felt himself growing drowsy, and desperately tried to fight it, to stay awake, but it was no use; was his dad casting Sleep?

But that didn't matter, he didn't care. He just had to stay awake, because if he didn't;

The nightmare would return.


	3. Chapter Two: The Wrong Kind Of Feeling

The nightmare changed.

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><p><strong><em>Matthew stared up at the tower he and his friends had unknowingly risen. The dark, swirling miasma that emanated from it filled him with dread, and with good reason; monsters seemed to thrive in those shadows, popping out of nowhere and attacking with the force of a battering ram. The tower was constructed of large, smooth stones, and it looked much like the Elemental Lighthouses, according to Kraden.<em>**

**_But the tower's most striking feature was the man on top of it. The Beastman King of Morgal, Volechek Czmaral, brother to the beastman princess who was currently trying to tear herself from Matthew's grip in an insane attempt to swim back to shore. "I am the King. I cannot leave my country when my own actions may very we'll have destroyed it."_**

**_"Then I will stay with you!" Sveta howled, her claws digging into Matthew's arms as she struggled to reach her family. "Eoleo!" she screamed at the newly appointed Pirate King. "Dock the boat and let me off!"_**

**_The thirty-something redhead ignored her, stoically looking ahead as he steered his ship out of Belinsk's harbor. His long ponytail whipped around in the unseasonal wind as Sveta repeated her demand._**

**_"No, Sveta." Volechek's voice easily reached them despite the distance. "I am the king, and so I cannot leave; you are the last of our line, so you must live."_**

**_"NO!" Sveta screeched. "Please do not leave me all alone! Brother!" Matthew's arms were lacerated by that point, but he stubbornly refused to let go._**

**_"Good-bye sister," Volechek said, turning around and entering the tower._**

**_"Volechek!" she howled once more. As her brother disappeared, so too did her will to fight. Soon, instead of holding her back, Matthew was all that was keeping her standing as the lavender-haired princess clung to his chest and cried, her long twin braids moving to the same strange wind as Eoleo's ponytail. Her normally bright emerald eyes were puffy and red, and the strange blue orb Volechek had thrown them rolled around their feet to the rocking of the ship._**

**_Sveta had dropped it in the struggle earlier, and now it was now it was freely rolling around the deck. As it did, Matthew's eyes found themselves strangely drawn to the tiny azure sphere that Volechek hoped would bring about the end of the Tuparang. Back and forth it rocked, back and forth, it was so mesmerizing, and then it rolled against a white boot and stopped. A gloved hand reached down and picked it up. Slowly, his eyes followed the sphere as it rose, and he saw Karis and Tyrell standing there, crying, and then the blue orb expanded, turning dark and menacing-_**

**_-and then he was back on the plateau, shoving his friends down the path, feeling the vortex wash __over him, dragging out every bit of psynergy he had stored within him, and it hurt, it hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt._**

* * *

><p>Matthew woke up screaming. The screams died down when he realized that he was somehow back in his room, it had once again been just a dream, and his best friend was sitting by his bedside instead of running for his life with a stranger. He also had a killer headache.<p>

Tyrell looked at him, sea-green eyes wide with shock. "Your mom said they were bad," he said shakily, "but I didn't think they were that bad."

"Wha-?" Matthew managed to get out, once again gasping for air. As he tried to grab Tyrell's arm, just to make sure he was really there, he realized he couldn't move. Nothing was holding him down; he was just completely out if psynergy. With all of it depleted, his body couldn't function normally. That was one of the downsides to being an adept.

"You kinda went crazy," Tyrell told him. "People could hear you screaming all over town. Even the Great Healer heard you, and the Sanctum is halfway up Mt. Aleph." Tyrell paused and let Matthew absorb that information before continuing. "When I showed up, you were using your psynergy subconsciously. It's like you were fighting something in your dreams. Isaac and Jenna were freaking out."

During this little speech, Matthew struggled to get himself in a sitting position. This was made more difficult by the fact that his arms weren't working the way they were supposed to. Helping Matthew sit up, Tyrell asked, "Were you?" When Matthew looked at him blankly, he clarified, "Fighting something."

Matthew looked down at his arms. Though he could remember what everything and everyone looked like, names of people and places always escaped his knowledge when he awoke. Consequently, he could not remember the name of the princess who had torn at his arms, nor what, exactly, she was the princess _of_, but he was shocked to see faint scars covering his arms, many of them exactly where she'd clawed at them.

Meanwhile, Tyrell was still waiting for a reply, so Matthew did his best to give him one. "I—no, I just—there was a city," he tried speaking and found that his throat really hurt. Coughing, Matthew looked around for water. Tyrell held out the glass in his hand, slight steam rising from it.

"Honey tea," Tyrell said as he helped Matthew drink (his arms still weren't working properly). "Jenna figured your throat would be sore after all that screaming you were doing."

Matthew looked at him, confused. "'All that screaming'? How much is that?"

Tyrell fell silent, as if struggling with whether he should tell Matthew or not. "According to Isaac, you started screaming shortly after you fell unconscious; that was nine hours ago." Matthew choked on the tea he'd just put in his mouth. He'd been dreaming for NINE HOURS? "You've been screaming on and off again for at least half of that, maybe more."

Matthew stared at him on shock. He wanted to think Tyrell was joking, but his face was too serious; plus, the sun, low in the sky, agreed with him. "Nine hours," he repeated numbly.

Tyrell nodded before nudging him in the shoulder. "So," he began when Matthew focused on him, "what's this about a city?"

Slowly, Matthew began to tell Tyrell about his newest nightmare. When he was finished, Tyrell slowly leaned back on the chairs back legs, processing. "You've been having that for weeks?" he asked, seemingly puzzled as to why a dream like that was tormenting his best friend so much he couldn't close his eyes without screaming in terror.

He was surprised when Matthew shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "This one was new, at least in the beginning. The ending was the same. That black pit thing, and me telling you and that girl to run, and my psynergy being drained, that always happens. Every night," he whispered, a hollow emptiness creeping into his eyes. "Every. Damn. NIGHT!"

There was the sound of breaking glass as the cup of tea fell to the floor; Matthew was breathing heavily. "Hey, man, let's go for a walk," Tyrell said suddenly after that outburst.

Matthew glared at Tyrell. Tyrell stared back, undaunted. "Maybe it'll help you feel better." That said, when Matthew made no move to get up, Tyrell grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet, dragging him out the door. Matthew barely had the time to grab his scarf. He couldn't remember exactly when his father had given him this orange-yellow scarf. All he remembered about that time was that Isaac had suddenly put it around his neck and told him to never go anywhere without it. Matthew hardly ever took it off.

"C'mon Matt!" Tyrell cheered, nearly causing Matthew to fall down the stairs. "A walk will do you good!" Despite himself, Matthew had to smile. The Mars Adept's good mood was infectious. And it lasted until Tyrell pulled him out the front door.

There was Mt. Aleph, rising tall and shadowing the village. The giant Psynergy Stone stood in the plaza to the south, as it always had. Children ran around, hitting each other with sticks and practicing their psynergy and practicing hitting each other with their psynergy. Everything in the village of Vale looked just as it had every day of his life, but today the scene made his blood run cold.

For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that everything was wrong.


	4. Chapter Three: Broken Memories

The walk did not make him feel better. It made his headache worse. The more he saw of his home village of Vale, the worse it got. Matthew didn't understand what was wrong with him. Didn't understand why everything felt wrong.

His head told him everything was fine as the two friends walked past Patcher's store. Patcher made a sign to ward off Zagan, the Demon Summon Spirit, when he spotted them. Matthew found it funny. Tyrell found it insulting. The sun was setting behind Mt. Aleph, and just as he did every day, he tilted his head to watch Sol bathe the mountain in golden light.

But today felt like the first time he had seen it like this, from this close. Looking at it, right here right now, felt entirely wrong, as if he was trespassing in a world that didn't belong to him. His head might think everything was as it should be; his heart was telling him everything had gone off track.

A feeling he ignored as he and Tyrell walked up to the Sanctum. As Matthew glared at him, Tyrell shrugged. "Jenna told me to come get her when you woke up, and I figured it would be faster this way."

"More like you were too damn lazy to go here and back," Matthew snorted, rolling his pale-blue eyes and wincing as his headache doubled.

"Well, you needed a walk," Tyrell said defensively. "And it can't hurt any for the Great Healer to look at you while you aren't writhing and screaming like the worlds coming to an end."

'_The world coming to an end,_' Matthew mused. Now that he thought about it that was exactly how the nightmares made him feel. He conveniently 'forgot' that he still felt that way, even with his eyes wide open.

"Your parents were worried sick," Tyrell told him, pushing open the Sanctum doors.

"I'll apologize," Matthew chuckled, "but I don't know if I can do anything about it."

Tyrell looked like he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by Jenna. "Matthew!" she cried, pulling him into a crushing embrace. He was pressed against her shoulder, both sight and breath blocked.

"...air..," Matthew gasped after a few seconds. Jenna ignored him. "Can't...breathe!"

Jenna finally loosened her grip as footsteps indicated Isaac was approaching. A second later, Matthew felt Isaac's hand tousle his hair. "You worried us," he said softly.

"M'sorry," Matthew mumbled.

"What?" Jenna asked. It seemed speaking into her shoulder muffled his naturally quiet voice so much that it made it impossible to hear.

He stepped out of his mother's arms and looked up, opening his mouth to repeat himself. Then he froze. "Matthew?" The voice was his mother's. Concern was thick in it.

"Are you alright son?" Isaac's hand held his shoulder this time. Both action and voice was familiar, but the face-

Matthew looked at the two people in front of him. The logical part of him, his brain, was telling him that they were his parents. Of course they were. They looked exactly like they had this morning, when everything, even the nightmares, were normal.

Every other fiber of his being was screaming that the people in front of him were impostors. They were too old and gray to be his parents. Eyes wide with shock, head spinning with confusion, Matthew stumbled backwards a couple steps, causing 'Isaac's' hand to fall from his shoulder. "Baby, what's wrong?" 'Jenna' moved toward him as if she meant to hug him again. "What hurts?

Unable to give her an answer, or even properly form thoughts, Matthew did what his instincts were urging him to do; flee. He turned and ran past Tyrell, who stared dumbly as his best friend shot through the doors he hadn't gotten around to closing.

'Isaac', 'Jenna', and the Great Healer, who Matthew hadn't even noticed was there, stared after the boy in shock. Tyrell turned to follow him, and so missed the subtle expression change on all three adults. Had he seen them, surely their faces would have chilled him to the core.

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><p>Matthew wasn't sure how long he'd been running, or even where he was running to. He had, earlier, quite literally ran into Garet, Tyrell's father. It had given him a shock, seeing the older Mars Adept as old as his parents, with a thick silver mustache and a receding hairline, even though his head screamed at him that that was how Garet had looked yesterday. He'd bolted away from there even faster than from his 'parents' earlier.<p>

When he eventually couldn't run anymore, Matthew found himself on the outskirts of Vale, right in front of the cottage that used to belong to the old scholar Kraden. _'Used to'_, Matthew tried telling himself. But for some reason, Matthew thought that was wrong, too.

He mechanically walked inside, passing an overgrown grave. The cottage was small, just a little one room place. Everywhere, covered in dust, were instruments of science Matthew couldn't even begin to identify. Taking up one entire wall was a collection of vials and beakers, all connected together with miles of tubing. Right in the middle of the floor was a giant cauldron, used for who knew what. The bed was pushed over in the corner, as if the owner didn't have time for sleep and didn't much care for it anyways.

Despite the lingering feeling that a very old man in robes should be bustling around mumbling to himself, the cottage filled Matthew with a sense of peace he hadn't felt since he'd awoken. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. The smell of dust and mold permeated the air, but there were other, more pleasing smells underneath.

The smell of age-old paper mixed with the scent of ink. Forgotten liquids from the incomplete experiments gave off their own unique perfume. And over it all was the overpowering scent of the elements.

Matthew's eyes shot open in surprise. '_The scent of the _elements_? How on Weyard do you smell an ELEMENT?_' Looking around, he saw four metallic-looking bags sitting forgotten behind the experiment tubes. He picked them up, examining them. They were small, the perfect size for the azure orb in his dream.

"I knew you'd be here." Tyrell's voice accompanied the sound of the door opening. Matthew turned and shoved the bags into his pocket as his best friend entered and pulled the door shut. "You still have the same weird habit of coming here whenever you're upset."

'_He knows me too well_.' Matthew thought. But suddenly, another thought, one he wasn't even conscious of until it screamed at him, said, '_I've never been here before, what the Hel is he talking about?_'

These two conflicting thoughts bounced around his skull, bringing the headache back full force, until with a cry of pain he staggered into the door, trying to get outside. "Hey, Matt, calm down!" The panic in Tyrell's voice was clear as he saw Matthew in pain. "I'll go get your parents!" he said, flinging open the door Matthew couldn't open.

"NO!" Matthew cried, grabbing Tyrell's arm. When Tyrell turned to him, shocked at that outburst, he continued, "Not them. I don't want to see them!" Then he stumbled outside, falling in front of the gravestone. Covered in vines and weeds as it was, it still wasn't enough to stop him seeing the inscription. His eyes went wide as another impossible thing happened.

Dimly he heard Tyrell say he was going to get them anyways, but he didn't care anymore. What was written in front of him, though he knew it to be true, it couldn't. It just couldn't.

_**Here lies a great scholar,  
>teacher,<br>and friend.  
>Kraden<br>134-216**_

The date said that Kraden had died twenty years ago, three years before Matthew was born. But that couldn't be, because in his memories, Kraden was alive and well. '_What?_-' he managed to think before unimaginable pain laced through his skull.

It was if a wall had been broken open. Memories of another time, another life rushed through his mind, and as Matthew's vision faded into oblivion and he lost consciousness once again, this time he wasn't sure;

He wasn't sure what was real, and what were dreams and nightmares.


	5. Chapter Four: A Remembered Name

**_"This place is damn annoying!" Tyrell complained as he set a Giant Spider on fire. The large arachnid squealed in pain as it attempted to douse the flames. It didn't see the Mars Adept's axe coming at it at all._**

**_"We're almost there," Matthew said after studying a strange glyph on the wall, glancing down at the book he held. "Just a little farther until the junction."_**

**_Karis huffed in annoyance as she stared at the ethereal blue, silk-bound book. "I still don't understand why you're the only one of us that can read that," she said, almost jealous._**

**_"It's an ancient relic from a time before even the history books remembered, given to me by a statue of a goddess long dead; I don't think we'll ever understand it," Matthew replied, absently running his thumb over the design in the center of the cover._**

**_"Still, it's a little creepy," Tyrell chimed in. "The way that statue came alive."_**

**_Matthew and Karis stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?" Karis asked. "We grow up on stories about talking trees, flying ships-"_**

**_"-Three headed dragons that turn into long-lost parents-"_**

**_"-statues that _spit water_," Karis continued as if she hadn't heard Matthew's interjection, "can use psynergy, which most people in Weyard would call 'magic', and it's the _talking_ statue that weirds you out the most."_**

**_"We ain't ever seen any of that stuff," Tyrell snapped defensively. "They've always been just stories."_**

**_"Stories we know to be true," Matthew reminded him._**

**_Sensing he wasn't going to win, Tyrell grumbled something about 'know-it-all's and 'traitorous best friend's while he chopped a Zombie in half with one vicious downward stroke. "Sometimes I wonder why we risk getting him angry at us," Matthew remarked._**

**_Karis smirked. "Because we know he'd never hurt us."_**

**_"Don't push your luck," Tyrell warned them, overhearing their conversation. The other two chuckled._**

**_"We only tease you 'cause we love you," Karis chirped before skipping ahead. She completely missed the blush that spread across Tyrell's face at her words. Matthew did not, and he stared at the teen he considered his brother in shock, mouth agape._**

**_"What?" Tyrell snapped, uncomfortable. "What are you staring at?"_**

**_"You like Karis," Matthew said bluntly._**

**_Tyrell's face grew even redder at that. Matthew half expected his hair to catch on fire (it had happened once). "Wha-?! I do not!" Tyrell's violent protests only confirmed it for the Venus Adept._**

**_"You so do!" he exclaimed with glee. "You lo- GAH!" And with that he tore down the passageway after Karis, a very mad axe-wielding Fire Adept close behind him._**

**_"What did you do?!" Karis yelled at him as they passed her._**

**_"I pushed my luck!" Matthew yelled back, not even pausing. Until he saw another glyph on the wall. Skidding to a stop, he became immovable as Tyrell slammed into him, knocking the larger teen flat on his back._**

**_"Oof," Tyrell gasped as he hit the ground. "Warn a guy next time, will you?" he complained as Matthew flipped open the Glyph Book._**

**_"Maybe when he isn't trying to knock my head off," Matthew replied, staring intently at the wall glyph as his fingertips brushed over the pages, as if he was searching for the right translation by feel. Tyrell and Karis knew better though. There were no words of any language written in the book itself; all that knowledge was stored inside Matthew's head. He was simply calling it to the surface, using the book as a medium to see the translated version._**

**_"This way," Matthew declared, shutting the book and going through the opening._**

**_"Are you sure, Matt?" Karis asked, having caught up to them. The reason Karis was so unsure was because of the three other, identical openings around them._**

**_Matthew stuck his head out of the opening. "Do you have a better way of finding the right opening other than reading the ancient glyph that's guided people the right way for centuries? Didn't think so," he said when Karis didn't reply._**

**_"Let's go already!" Tyrell said. "I don't wanna stay in these caves forever." And with that, he marched down the tunnel ahead of Matthew. Matthew and Karis paused a moment to chuckle before catching up to their hot-tempered friend._**

**_Turning a corner, the tunnel abruptly opened up into a large cavern. There were three people in the cavern, along with something Matthew could stand never seeing again. "Master Kraden, this is getting too dangerous! We should leave before the Psynergy Vortex causes the whole cave to collapse!" A girl wearing heavy robes with her long, bright blue hair pulled into pigtails said. "Matthew and his friends can meet us in Bilibin or Belinsk!" Her purple beret fell over her eyes as she nodded her head with annoyance._**

**_An old man wearing similar robes shook his head. "I owe Isaac a lot, Nowell," Kraden said. "He asked me to guide those children, so guide them I shall."_**

**_"That's an awful lot to do for someone as a favor," the third person in the cavern remarked. He had straight blue hair that went down to his shoulders, held back from his face by his spectacles. He was wearing robes similar to the other two, and was balancing on a ledge above the vortex._**

**_Kraden nodded. "Yes, but Isaac and I go back a long ways. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for that fine fellow."_**

**_Matthew felt an odd swell of pride at that. True, he knew his dad was great, but it was always nice to know that other people thought so too._**

**_"What _are_ you doing up there, Rief?" Kraden asked, noticing where his student was standing for the first time._**

**_The boy, who must've been Rief, answered, "I wanted to see what the vortex looked like from above."_**

**_'Oh yeah, the vortex. That could end up being a problem.' Silently, Matthew chided himself for temporarily forgetting about it. It was huge, and nearly blocked the way to the north exit from where they were standing._**

**_"As invigorating as I find your curiosity, perhaps you should descend before you fall; that ledge looks rather precarious."_**

**_Rief looked down at the tiny outcropping he was balancing on. "All right, Master Kraden," he agreed._**

**_As Rief made his way down, Nowell noticed something rather interesting and began to head towards it. "Master Kraden," she began as she neared a squat, four-legged machine with a purple crystal on top. "What do you suppose-"_**

**_Before she could finish her sentence, before anyone could react at all, an arrow whizzed past her face and lodged into the stone wall behind her._**

* * *

><p>"He's not waking up," came a faint murmur.<p>

"Matthew, baby, please be alright."

Someone placed their hand on his forehead. "I can find nothing wrong with him physically. Whatever ails him is in his mind."

There was a gasp and a muffled sob as Matthew fought to open his eyes. He saw 'Jenna', 'Isaac', 'Garet', and Tyrell. All four were looking intently at the Great Healer, so none noticed Matthew's open eyes. They only turned to him when he opened his mouth and spoke. The words that came out of his mouth surprised him just as much as it did them.

"Wh-wheres... Karis?"


	6. Chapter Five: The Cursed Child

Matthew blearily opened his eyes, sitting up in his bed. It had been a week since he had brought Karis' name back from dreamland with him. It had also been a week since normality was found anywhere near his life. His parents walked on eggshells around him, as if the sight of them would trigger one of his 'episodes'. More often than not, they were indeed the cause, though Matthew tried his hardest to hide that.

Though they still looked strange to his broken mind, they _were_ his parents. He wanted his mother to hold him and tell him everything was going to be fine. He wanted his father to pat his head. He wanted them to look at him without fearing for him, because whenever he caught a glimpse of that look in their eyes it killed him to know he was causing it.

He wanted to go hiking with his father, getting as close as they could to the top of Mt. Aleph before the Sages spotted them and chased them away. He wanted to continue his cooking lessons with his mother, because he could finally grill a piece of meat without it turning to charcoal.

Now all these things were as far away as the stars.

Looking out the window, he noticed that it must've been at least noon, far later than when he normally got up. But he just couldn't help it. Last night had been a peaceful sleep, one without dreams. Something most took for granted, but was now a small slice of heaven for the sleep-deprived Earth Adept.

Briefly, he toyed with the idea of simply laying back down and closing his eyes, seeing if he could recreate those hours of bliss, but that hope was shattered as Tyrell flung open the door of the scholar's cottage hard enough to make the delicate instruments wobble. "Careful!" Matthew snapped, leaping out of bed and crossing the room to steady them. Ever since the day he'd screamed for nine hours, Matthew had taken up residence in Kraden's old cottage, not wishing to stay in the village proper.

"Sorry," Tyrell said, not meaning it. Then, "You were still sleeping? Having a good dream?"

"Better than that," Matthew sighed. "No dreams at all. I got real sleep."

Tyrell grinned. "No wonder you're in a good mood." Matthew nodded absently, running his fingers over the tiny glass vials one by one. "You feel up for a walk? Just around the village," he hurriedly added when Matthew stiffened. "We can come back if you start getting a headache."

Slowly, Matthew nodded. "I suppose I could use a walk," he said. "I haven't really done anything in a while and could use the exercise." Matthew began to dress, throwing on a long-sleeved red shirt and navy blue pants.

As he laced up his boots, Tyrell began to excitedly bounce in place. "Sweet! This is gonna be so great!"

Matthew looked at him like he was crazy, putting on his scarf. "It's just a walk around the village, _right_?"

Tyrell nodded, still bouncing. "Yeah, but there's a _traveler_ in town. An _outsider_! Here! In Vale!"

Matthew gaped at him. "You're kidding, right?" Tyrell did nothing but bounce, which Matthew took as a 'yes'. "No way," he gasped. "Why would anybody come _here_?"

Tyrell shrugged, heading out the door. "We can ask him when we meet him, if we get to; seems everybody wants to talk to him."

"No surprise there. We never get travelers way out here, and nobody ever leaves; I'm surprised he found us," Matthew said, following after him.

"Maybe he just got lucky?"

"More like lost," Matthew said. They had entered the village proper by now, and he was trying not to flinch whenever someone refused to meet his eye. Some people even abruptly changed direction when they spotted him.

"Ignore them," Tyrell nudged him, sending the smaller teen staggering a little. "Tell me about this girl I'm supposedly dating," he teased, grinning.

"I already have," Matthew replied. "And she's obviously crazy, because she likes YOU." Tyrell sputtered in indignation, causing Matthew to laugh.

Tyrell was the only one who knew what was in Matthew's dreams. He felt that telling someone else would be a terrible idea, but for some reason Tyrell was okay. He assumed it was because Tyrell was a part of those dreams, and it would be wrong to keep it from him.

"Besides, you two are still denying your relationship, even though it's totally obvious to everyone."

"Who's everyone?" Tyrell asked. Though he would never show it, Tyrell was worried about Matthew. The way he talked about the people in his dreams as if he knew them very well and were standing right in front of him. The way he described the places in his dreams as absolute fact. And the way he could never remember everything that happened.

Like now. Matthew's brow furrowed as he struggled to recall information that just wasn't there. "I don't remember," he finally admitted, defeated.

"No worries," Tyrell said, clapping him on the shoulder. "It's not important." Matthew frowned at that, but Tyrell had turned and didn't see it. "There he is."

Tyrell practically sprinted towards the large gathering of people near the Psynergy Stone, Matthew trailing behind. Tyrell was wrong. It was important. He just didn't know WHY.

Still frowning, Matthew caught up to his best friend as he stood on tiptoe, trying to see above all the heads of the people standing in front. "I can't see," Tyrell grumbled. "There's too many people in the way."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "How long has this been going on?"

"Uh... Couple hours, I guess? People are curious."

"Poor guys probably hungry. I'M hungry, why did I let you talk me into this without eating breakfast first?"

"Because you were curious, and besides, it's lunch time anyways," Tyrell said matter-of-factly.

Matthew was about to say something that would degrade into one of the hours-long childish arguments he often had with Tyrell when he noticed people starting to stare at him. "I think I'm going to head back now," he said quietly. Sensing his mood change, Tyrell glanced at Matthew before glaring at everyone muttering around them.

"C'mon Matt, just ignore them," Tyrell repeated. "We came all the way out here, let's at least finish what we started." His tone turned pleading as Matthew shook his head firmly.

"I really think I should leave before-" The rest of Matthew's sentence was cut off by a cry as he staggered backwards, the rock that had cut into his forehead falling to the ground. His hand flew to the wound, feeling the warm wetness. Though only a superficial cut, head wounds had a tendency to look worse than they actually were, and the last thing he wanted right now was-

"Who threw that?!" -an angry Tyrell. Crap. Tyrell's glare was hot enough to dry up oceans as he stared murderously at the crowd around them. The entire populace shifted, glancing furtively at each other. Those who had been so happy and excited to see someone new quickly turned dark and menacing after seeing someone familiar.

Matthew shrank into himself as Tyrell spun around demanding an answer, as if making himself smaller would stop the whispers and the stares. His hand dropped limply back to his side as he stared at the rock and realized what it meant. "Let it go, Tyrell," he said hoarsely. He refused to look up from the rock, knowing that if he saw his best friends face, he'd burst into tears. "Just let it go. I'll see you later."

And with that, he spun around and headed back to Kraden's cottage. He felt Tyrell's and everyone else's eyes on his back as people parted like the Karagol Sea in front of him. And he heard the none too quiet whisper, probably the same person who'd thrown the rock, the piece of his element that had betrayed him, hiss;

"Cursed."


	7. Chapter Six: Leaving

Hesitantly, Tyrell knocked on the door. "Matt? You okay?"

"Go away," came the reply. The voice came out muffled and thick, and Tyrell could tell he'd been crying.

"Nah, I'm good here," he said, sliding down the door until he was sitting on the ground. He heard the pattering of footsteps and a sound similar to the one he had created as Matthew copied his actions, albeit on the other side of the door. Tyrell had never been one for small talk or beating around the bush, so he just jumped right in to what he believed to be the problem. "Everybody has somebody who hates them Matt. So what if a couple people don't like you? That's totally normal."

"Not people you've grown up with your entire life." Matthew's reply was so quiet Tyrell had to strain his ears to hear it. "Besides, the problem is not that the hate me; it's that they fear me."

"Who'd be scared of you?" Tyrell asked, genuinely confused. "You're like, the least threatening Adept in Vale!"

Tyrell could almost see Matthew hugging his knees to his chest, burying his face in them. His best friend was so predictable. "They don't understand." Okay, scratch that, Tyrell hadn't been expecting that.

"Understand what?"

"What's wrong with me." Matthew's voice started to get louder. "They don't understand it, and because humans are such stupid, instinctual beasts, they fear what they do not understand!" Matthew practically yelled that last part. "So they fear me, and they hate me. And it will never stop." Just as suddenly as it had rose, his voice dropped into a whisper.

Standing up, Matthew opened the door, almost causing Tyrell to fall backwards inside the house. Tyrell scrambled to stand up and look at his friend. Matthew looked like someone had dragged him through Hel and back, and his eyes were red and bloodshot. But at the same time, there was a fire burning in them, and a determination in his stance that Tyrell had never seen before.

"It'll never stop," he repeated, his broken voice the complete opposite of the look in his eyes. "So I'm going to leave."

It took Tyrell a few seconds to process those words, but when he did, all Hel broke loose. "Leave?! As in, Vale?! I mean, you're leaving Vale?!"

For a moment Matthew's determination wavered, as if hearing someone else say it reminded him of how totally stupid and crazy this idea was, but it was only for a moment. He took a deep breath, and this time his voice was strong as he said, "Yes. I'm leaving Vale."

"Stop talking crazy!" Tyrell was hysterical. "You can't leave! Nobody's ever left before! You don't know what's out there; you don't even have a map! What about your parents?!"

If Tyrell expected that to stop Matthew's crazy plan, he was sorely mistaken. "What about them?" he said, his voice turning cold. "They won't even look at me anymore." Matthew looked down, the fire in his eyes doused by fresh tears. "I can't do this. Constantly having to hide from people who I've known since birth, praying to Sol they don't see me every time I have to go into town." The tears rolled down Matthew's cheeks unchecked. "I just can't," he whispered.

Tyrell was completely at loss. It wasn't like Matthew to show emotion like this, ever. "I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise, am I?" he asked, sighing. "When are we leaving?"

Matthew looked at him sharply. "There is no 'we'."

Tyrell waved away his contradiction. "Of course there is," he replied. "Friends never let their friends do stupid things on their own. And don't give me that crap about how I can't leave my family behind," he snapped as Matthew opened his mouth to argue. "Because you're doing the exact same thing, and no matter how much you think Isaac and Jenna don't care, they do."

Matthew deflated when he realized that there was no way to talk Tyrell out if coming with him. "I'm leaving once Luna rises. If your coming, be here then." He slammed the door shut, hoping Tyrell would just change his mind and not show.

"Are you going to tell Isaac and Jenna?" Tyrell asked, rubbing his nose where the door hit him.

"Are you going to tell Garet and Carrie?" Matthew shot back.

Tyrell sighed. "At least leave them a note," he said. "Don't leave without me, alright?"

* * *

><p>Tyrell spent the rest of the day in a frenzied daze. He grabbed a pack and filled it with everything he could think they might need; food, a tent, a spare change of clothes, sleepwear, a compass, a couple Psynergy Stones, some antidotes and herbs, elixirs, and every piece of gold he had. He found himself wishing he had a map as he made sure his axe was sharpened and rust-free.<p>

He laughed a little as he looked at his axe. It had been his dad's gift to him for his fifteenth birthday. His mom had not been happy at all, but what mother would be? No mother wants their child to have a weapon capable of decapitating someone with a single swing. His smile turned into a frown as he imagined them getting up next morning, coming up the stairs to wake him, and only finding a slip of paper. His mom would be devastated; his father would get angry-

Tyrell shook his head to dispel the images. As much as it pained him to do this, he couldn't let Matthew go on his own. Sighing, Tyrell wrote down his message and apology as the sun sank behind the mountain. When it finally disappeared, he hauled himself onto the windowsill, glancing around his room one more time. The note rested on the pillow of his neatly made bed. His room was entirely clean, in an attempt to leave his mom one less thing to worry about.

After staring for a moment longer, Tyrell launched himself out the window. His knees flexed, absorbing the shock of the impact as he landed, cat-like, on the ground. Then, with his pack heavy on his shoulders, he set off at a jog through the village. Luna would rise in a few minutes, and he wasn't sure if Matthew had meant it when he had said he would leave him behind.

He didn't want to risk it actually happening.

* * *

><p>After Tyrell left, Matthew once again sank down to the floor. He really didn't want him to come, but if he left without him it was highly likely that Tyrell would simply follow behind him and get himself hurt. Best to just keep him close.<p>

Sighing, Matthew dragged himself over to Kraden's work table, where the alchemist had kept many things, including a map and an old, raggedy journal. The journal was full of a lot of things that made no sense to Matthew, but it did explain what those strange bags that smelled like the elements were. Not what was inside them though. It was one of the things Matthew hoped to figure out. Somewhere in Weyard, there was someone who knew what the strange orbs filled with elemental energy were.

For a few seconds he toyed with the strings that tied the Mythril Bags shut, then placed them carefully inside his bag, along with the journal, his own supply of food, items, and clothing. He rolled up the map before placing it on top of everything for easy reach. Then he wrote his own note to his parents, though he doubted they would ever read it; Tyrell had been the only one to come visit.

He picked up his bag before leaving the cottage, not sparing it a backwards glance. He did, however, look towards the village as Sol disappeared from the sky. For a few seconds, he imagined just going home and forgetting the past week had ever happened. Forget the dreams, the whispers, the things he had read in Kraden's journal. Then Tyrell came into view, and he knew he couldn't. Even if he tried, the people of the village wouldn't let him. "Ready?" Tyrell asked as he reached Matthew.

Matthew glanced over at Kraden's grave, clear of growth for the first time in a long time, and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

It was time to leave.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Echo

Two shadowy figures walked along the road, illuminated by only the stars, the moon having sunk long ago. The smaller one squinted at a piece of parchment he held in his hands. "You just found it," Tyrell said, disbelief in his voice.

Matthew sighed, rolling up the map. "Yes. In Kraden's desk drawer."

"The one that was locked."

"I found the key in the bed knob."

"Who puts a key in a bed knob?"

"Kraden, apparently."

"Is that map even accurate?"

Resisting the urge to whack him upside the head with his very heavy pack, Matthew ground his teeth and replied, "We'll know in a few hours if we can't find Vault."

"And what if we don't find Vault?" Tyrell, ever the pessimist.

"Then we'll be lost until we find a town where we can buy an accurate map," Matthew snapped, his patience gone. Tyrell was his best friend, but sometimes he drove him crazy.

"That's not very helpful right now," Tyrell complained. "I don't want to be lost in the dark."

"Then make a fireball," Matthew grouched.

"That's right, I can do that!" Tyrell said happily. And with that, the surroundings were bathed in firelight. "I can see n-oof!" His declaration was cut off when he tripped and face-planted into the road dust.

"You saw better when it was dark," Matthew remarked with a grin, hauling Tyrell up.

"Well, it's dark again now," Tyrell grumbled, dusting himself off. Indeed, Tyrell's fireball had gone out when he'd fallen. "Can we continue our journey after the sun rises?" he asked, yawning. "I function better after I've slept, and we've gotten far enough away from Vale that no one's gonna accidentally stumble upon us."

Matthew glanced back at his best friend to say 'No', but seeing Tyrell look so utterly exhausted stopped him. He probably looked just as bad, so instead he said, "Yeah, let's," and led them off the road and into the bushes lining it, effectively hiding them from any casual passerby's.

Tyrell had barely taken out his blanket before he was fast asleep. After looking up to make sure it wasn't going to rain, Matthew did the same.

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Just like that?" Karis asked Isaac indignantly. "You're sending us off to meet Kraden and giving us NO more details?"<em>**

**_"This isn't an errand; it's a journey into the unknown," Isaac replied. "So the sooner you leave, the sooner you'll find your way." Isaac began walking up the stairs to the pigeon roost and Karis threw one more retort at his back._**

**_"Talk about pushing us out of the nest!"_**

**_"He's decided it's time for you to grow into warriors," Garet said quietly from his spot in the corner. "He needs your help."_**

**_"Still..." Karis began._**

**_"If you don't like it, don't come," Matthew interrupted, thoroughly fed up with Karis' complaining. "He's not making you go; you offered to come with us."_**

**_"Well, I had to!" Karis cried, looking from Tyrell to Matthew and back again. "__Someone has to keep an eye on you two idiots. You'd be lost without me."_**

**_"I can read a map and compass just fine, Karis," Tyrell huffed._**

**_Karis rolled her amethyst eyes. "That's not what I meant, moron. I meant that you guys wouldn't have a clue on what to do to keep yourselves safe."_**

**_"We can fight," Tyrell said angrily at the same time Matthew said,_**

**_"For example..?"_**

**_"Setting a night watch._"**

* * *

><p>Matthew's eyes flew open as he scrambled for his sword. '<em>How could I have been so <em>stupid_?!_' He stood up swiftly as he grasped his sword's hilt, head cocked to the side and senses extended through the ground, listening and feeling for signs of anything near them. He felt nothing, and the only thing he heard was the sound of Tyrell snoring.

He sighed in relief before sitting back down, draping his blanket over his shoulders like a cloak. Then, with nothing else to do, he thought about his most recent 'dream'.

Though he no longer considered them dreams. They were more like memories of a time that hadn't happened. An echo of a destroyed timeline. He didn't tell Tyrell that; he knew it would only cause his best friend more worry. But he couldn't help but notice that this 'echo' had been very different from the others he'd had. Normally, there was an overwhelming feeling of danger. And that large, dark, psynergy-sucking hole would end up in them somewhere. But he had felt nothing but safety in this echo. He was safe in his home, with his friends and family, and that hole had stayed away. Plus, the Isaac and Garet that had appeared briefly looked familiar, even though they looked like teenagers trying to grow facial hair to look like adults.

Also, it hadn't been some random scrap of flashback; it had been a reminder of the fact that the world was dangerous and they needed to be more careful. And a perfectly timed one too.

The more he thought about it, the more confused it made him. He didn't understand these echoes and that bothered him. And scared him. His brow furrowed as he tried to think of some reason that particular echo came to him at the exact moment he was being as stupid as it claimed it to be, but he came up with nothing. So he turned his thoughts to the girl.

Jade hair, amethyst eyes. A slender figure clothed in white, with a short purple cape that danced in the breezes she called forth with a word. She wasn't Matthew's type, but he could certainly understand why she was Tyrell's. '_No, bad_', Matthew thought, frowning. 'THAT_ Tyrell's. They're entirely different people, don't get them confused. __Entirely different_,' he stubbornly repeated. But he didn't believe it. There were too many similarities and no differences to speak of; the only one was that one existed in Matthew's head, the other outside of it. It made Matthew wonder if Karis would be the same when the two boys met her. IF they met her; she probably didn't exist. But again, he didn't believe it.

'_Karis_,' he thought vehemently. '_You were thinking about her, don't get distracted_.' Slowly, he began to piece together what he knew of her. She looked to be the same age as them, maybe a couple months younger, and she liked Tyrell. 'THAT_ Tyrell_,' Matthew fiercely reminded himself. But she was close to both of them. She knew them well, or at least well enough to know they were idiots who had to be reminded of basic safety measures. And Matthew wasn't sure, but he thought she was a Jupiter Adept, which was pretty rare. Wind Adepts were thought to have died out.

Matthew blinked suddenly, his eyes tearing up as Sol woke from its slumber, spilling its rays across the continent. To his right, Tyrell mumbled in irritation as it woke him up. "Is it time to go?" he asked as he sat up and yawned. Matthew nodded, heading back onto the road. Tyrell joined him a few minutes later. "Sleep well?" Tyrell asked the question hesitantly.

Matthew had to think about that for a moment. Sure, he'd had a dream, but it wasn't a bad one; in fact, it had been rather pleasant. "I had a dream," he replied, and Tyrell stiffened. "It was a good one," he continued, Tyrell relaxing as he spoke. "Karis was being a bossy know-it-all and we were being idiots, but it was peaceful and safe and I could relax. It was kind of weird, actually."

"Weird how?" Matthew paused, unsure of how to talk about his suspicions without worrying Tyrell, but before he could even try the decision was taken out of his hands. "Is that Vault?" Tyrell wondered as they crested a small hill and saw a town nestled at the bottom.

"One way to find out."


	9. Chapter Eight: The Village of Vault

"Welcome to Vault!" A cheery brunette greeted them the moment the two boys stepped through the city gates.

'_That answers that question._'

"You boys here for the caravan?" the man continued.

Matthew and Tyrell looked at each other. "Caravan?" Tyrell asked, confused. Matthew shrugged. He didn't know what it was either.

The man, who introduced himself as Aidan, was more than happy to explain. And talk. There was a lot of talking involved.

"So you just happened to stumble upon us at the right time, huh? That right there is the luckiest thing that'll probably ever happen to you. The Contigo Caravan is the best thing that ever happens to anybody! Vault makes a festival out of it every time they're here. Food stands, games, and of course, the caravan itself."

Aidan paused for breath as the two boys looked uncomfortably at each other. How long was this guy going to talk?

"The caravan comes from Contigo once a year. It travels all over the world. It's like a town on wheels! And the people in it-" here Aidan whistled. "They've got AMAZING powers. A fortune teller so accurate it's scary, a mind reader, and don't forget the Daughter of the South Wind."

Matthew and Tyrell exchanged another glanced, but this one was more interested than irritated. "The who?" Matthew asked.

"The Daughter if the South Wind," Aidan repeated, his voice and face going dreamy. "She's amazing. She calls up gales and lightning with a single word!" He sighed. "She's also smoking hot, but that's neither here nor there."

Immediately, Matthew felt Tyrell's interest and inwardly sighed. They weren't leaving now. "Is she really?"

"Aidan!" An unfamiliar voice rang out. Aidan jumped before turning to the owner guiltily. A girl not that much older than Matthew and Tyrell ran up and slugged him in the arm. "You're supposed to be helping me set up, not talking the ears off of travelers!" Matthew breathed another quiet sigh, this one in relief. "I'm sorry about my idiotic brother," she apologized, bowing quickly. "Come on!" She grabbed her brother by the ear and began pulling him after her, ignoring Aidan's complaints about it hurting.

"I feel like those two would be able to talk up a storm if you let them," Tyrell remarked, staring at their backs as they disappeared into the thick crowd.

"I don't like them," Matthew said absently, getting his first good look at Vault. It was surrounded by low cliffs, which was probably where it got the name Vault. It was smaller in size than Vale, but there were so many people! He assumed it was because of the caravan thing Aidan had been blabbing about.

"You don't like anyone with a mouth that never stops moving," Tyrell said, craning his neck to look at all the stands in the process of being set up. "So this thing is like a festival, yeah? I wonder when it starts. What do you think the foods like?"

Matthew sighed as Tyrell began to bounce up and down in place. "Let's go find an Inn," he said wearily, starting to walk.

"Alright," Tyrell said, bouncing after him.

Knowing he was going to regret this, Matthew asked him, "Why are you bouncing?"

"Because it's exciting. Aren't you excited? We never see anything like this at home."

"...Just stop bouncing. You're acting like a child."

"Fine," Tyrell pouted, starting to walk like a normal person. He was still halfway skipping though. Matthew sighed and accepted that that was the best he was getting out of him. Tyrell attracted a lot of strange stares as they wandered through Vault, looking for the Inn.

* * *

><p>The Inn had been near the center of town, recognizably marked. For people familiar with Inns. Vale, being so far removed from the outside world, had no need for an Inn, because there were no travelers. Matthew and Tyrell walked by it three times before finally asking for directions. And when they finally found it, they found that it was completely full; the caravan caused a lot of people who lived on outlying farms to come into town.<p>

"Now what?" Tyrell asked dejectedly.

Matthew glanced at him. "We have a tent. We can leave town and sleep outside."

Tyrell sighed. "That completely defeats the purpose of coming INTO the town."

"Does not." When Tyrell glared at him, daring him to find one positive thing about their predicament, Matthew said, "Food," and Tyrell's mood instantly brightened.

"You're right. I smell fry bread."

"Seriously?!" Both boys inhaled deeply, and sure enough, the rich smell of deep-fried bread hung everywhere in the air. "We should find out where it's coming from."

"That is the smartest thing you've said all day." After locating the fried bread, Tyrell dragged Matthew from food stall to food stall as Sol sank to the horizon. Not that Matthew was complaining. He loved food almost as much as Tyrell did, and the two spent the evening trying everything they could find.

Then, when the sun completely disappeared, everyone on the streets began moving as a unified mass towards the town center. "Where's everyone going?" Tyrell wondered, his mouth once again full of fry bread. They had stopped by that stand so many times; the vendor now knew their names.

Matthew shrugged, swallowing his own bite of bread. "Let's go find out."

* * *

><p>Carrie threw a plate at Garet's head. "It's dark and he isn't back yet!" she screeched. "I told you we should have gone after them as soon as we saw that note of his!"<p>

Garet raised his hands defensively in front of his face as his wife continued to throw their dinnerware. "I thought it was just one of his stupid pranks! I never thought he was being serious!"

Isaac sat with his head in his hands on the sofa, Jenna sitting next to him sobbing uncontrollably. "Tyrell might be an idiotic prankster like you used to be, but Matthew is more serious than he is! He'd never pull any type of prank, much less one that worried his mother like this!" Carrie was absolutely livid.

As soon as she had seen Tyrell's note, Carrie had raced over in hysterics to Jenna's, and the two immediately headed for Kraden's cottage, hoping they would find the two boys there and would be able to scold them for nearly giving them heart attacks. Instead, they had found Matthew's own note, and Jenna noticed something else was missing; Kraden's world map.

The two mothers had wanted to set off after them right away, but Isaac and Garet had been convinced it was just an elaborate prank Tyrell had convinced Matthew to help him play. But now, as Carrie pointed out with each dish she threw at her unfortunate husband, it was dark. And as the sun disappeared, so too did the hope it had just been a prank, and now Isaac, Jenna, Garet and Carrie were forced to admit that their sons really HAD left Vale.

"They couldn't have gotten that far," Jenna whispered, speaking for the first time since Sol had stopped shining. "We could still find them easy."

Isaac shook his head, earning him a sharp glare from Carrie. "Not without a map we can't. We wouldn't know which direction to start walking as soon as we passed through the village gates."

"Damn," Garet quietly swore as his wife crumpled to the floor in tears. He gathered her up in his arms as she started to cry, thinking about all the trouble their idiotic son could get into on his own out in the world. "Isn't there _anything_ we can do?"

That was the moment Jenna's brother decided to walk in, a shadowy figure trailing behind him. Felix took one look at the distraught parents and said, "I take it they're not back yet?" Jenna nodded miserably and Carrie burst into another round of tears.

"Now isn't the best time to chat, Felix," Isaac said quietly, noticing the person behind him.

"On the contrary, now is the perfect time to chat. Have you met our guest yet?" Everyone in the room froze as they remembered the traveler who had appeared only the day before. A traveler who would most certainly own a map.

Long aqua hair held back by a headband; piercing golden eyes. The man nodded at each one of them. "Hello.

"My name is Piers."


	10. Chapter Nine: Karis

Matthew and Tyrell stared as the blond-gray haired man left the makeshift stage set in front of the caravan. "He was using psynergy," Matthew said numbly.

Tyrell nodded, distracted. "So was the fortune-teller before him." They looked at each other. "These people are Adepts."

"I guess there are some outside Vale after all. Dad would love to know this."

Suddenly, everyone in the crowd around them fell silent as a whirlwind appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the stage. Around the whirlwind, invisible to everyone else, was the telltale glow of psynergy. "Another one," Tyrell whispered, for once not wanting to break the silence.

Matthew nodded as the crowd broke into a roar. They knew who this was. And by the way most of the teenage boys started drooling, he bet he knew who this was too. "The Daughter of the South Wind!" That confirmed it.

As the whirlwind died down, Matthew saw Tyrell starting to drool out of the corner of his eye. His own eyes went wide as he saw who stood there. A slender figure clothed in white. A short purple cape still dancing in the leftover breeze from the whirlwind. "Tyrell," Matthew hissed as his best friend let out a wolf whistle mimicked by almost every other male in the crowd. Matthew couldn't stop staring. That jade hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"TYRELL!" Matthew hissed louder, this time, jabbing him in the side with his elbow.

"Ow! What is it? Can't you see I'm enjoying the view?" Tyrell complained, rubbing his ribs.

"That's her."

"Yeah, I know she's the girl that blabber mouth was talking about this morning. And as a Mars Adept, I can tell you he was wrong; she's not smoking hot, she's shooting star hot. That's like, the hottest thing in the universe. Actually, she even hotter than that! And her eyes; Sol, I've never seen any that color before."

Matthew shook his head at his hopeless friend. "I have," he said. When Tyrell finally stopped leering long enough to look at him in confusion, Matthew repeated, "That's _her_, man."

Those white clothes. That purple cape. Her jade-green hair pulled up into a ponytail. Those amethyst eyes sweeping over the crowd as if everyone in front of her were idiots. And her Jupiter abilities. When he'd first saw that whirlwind appear on the stage, he had no idea how much he had known this girl.

"That's _Karis_."

* * *

><p><strong><em>He vividly remembered the second time he met Karis.<em>**

**_His mom hadn't become Ivan's top advisor yet, so she still lived with Isaac and Matthew in the Lookout Cabin, and the three of them were in Kalay for its commemoration of the Golden Sun event. The brightly decorated shops and crowded streets were too much for the five year-old Matthew, and he clung to his mother's skirt and hid behind her legs every time they were stopped in the street by someone wanting to talk to two of the famed Warriors of Vale. And of course, all these admirers were intensely interested in Isaac and Jenna's son._**

**_As they moved away from their most recent conversation, Isaac looked down at his son peeking out at the world from behind Jenna's skirt and chuckled. "It's much more interesting when you can see it all, Son," he said, grinning and tugging on Matthew's hand until he was standing in between his parents. Matthew stared with wide eyes at all the lights and flags, each one representing a different Elemental Clan._**

**_"Where are we going?"Matthew asked after finally getting tired of walking. He had a lot of stamina for a small child._**

**_Jenna smiled warmly at him. "We're going to see Ivan and Serra and Karis. You remember Karis, right?" Wordlessly, Matthew shook his head. No, he didn't remember her. She must not have been that important. His mother pouted a little. "You are just like your father. The worst memory ever."_**

**_"Hey!"_**

**_"Oh shush Isaac, you know it's true."_**

**_"I remember all the 'portant things," Matthew informed his mother._**

**_"Well then, remember this; people are very important. More important than anything. You must never forget the people important to you."_**

**_Matthew looked up at her skeptically. "Really?"_**

**_"Really," Jenna said. Still skeptical, Matthew looked at his father for conformation. When Isaac nodded, Matthew smiled._**

**"_Okay_."**

**_"Isaac! Jenna!" came a voice from behind them. When they turned around, Matthew reflexively hid behind Jenna's legs._**

**_"Ivan!" his mother greeted warmly. "It's been too long."_**

**_"That it has," said the unfamiliar voice. Carefully peeking out from behind his mother, Matthew looked up at a short blond man with his shoulder length hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. His smile stretched across his face and his violet eyes showed his delight as he shook Isaac's hand vigorously. "You remember my wife Serra, and our daughter Karis, right?"_**

**"I_ do," Jenna said smugly. Matthew stiffened, knowing what was coming next. "But Matthew might need reminding." And with that, Matthew was once again pulled out from behind her, though he still clung to her side._**

**_Standing next to Ivan was a woman with long, jade green hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was holding the hand of a girl the same age as Matthew. The girl had her mother's hair, pulled up into twin pigtails, and her father's eyes. They were glaring at Matthew, as if their owner couldn't believe she had been forgotten._**

**_"Hello Matthew," Ivan said kindly. "I'm Ivan, this is my wife Serra-" he indicated the woman next to him, "-and my daughter Karis. She's about the same age as you," he said, placing his hand a top of his daughter's head. Karis kept glaring at Matthew, so he slowly inched back behind his mother._**

**_"Matt!" came a happy voice to the right. Matthew turned and saw Tyrell running over to them, followed by his parents. "Matt, Matt Matt Matt!"_**

* * *

><p>"Matt!" Tyrell's voice was more worried than happy now.<p>

"Wha-?" Matthew forced open his eyes. Funny, he didn't remember closing them. The first thing he noted was the concern on Tyrell's face. The second thing he noted was that he appeared to be...swaying. He frowned. "Why are you moving around like that?"

As Tyrell hesitated, wondering how to began, an unfamiliar yet familiar voice answered for him. "Because you're in our caravan." Matthew turned his head, and there she was, her eyes glaring at him like he was the biggest idiot alive. Karis. Matthew looked at Tyrell in disbelief. Tyrell could only shrug helplessly.

Matthew swore.


	11. Chapter Ten: Far Too Long

"No, sorry. So many people came in that day there's no way to remember them all."

"Haven't seen 'em."

"No."

"I'm sorry, I wish I could help."

"Oh, I remember those boys. Ate up nearly my entire stock of fry bread. Matthew and Tyrell, right? They left with the caravan."

"The Contigo Caravan?" Piers asked in disbelief.

The food vendor nodded. "Yeah, surprised me too. Not a lot of people get close to those folks, but Ivan walks right up to them and asks 'em to come with him, and they go. It's a shame. With the way they ate, me and every other food seller here in Vault would've gotten rich."

Piers thanked the vendor before leaving in search of someone who knew where the caravan had been heading. "The Contigo Caravan, huh?" he mused. "What have those kids gotten themselves into?"

* * *

><p>"What have you gotten us into?" Matthew asked as soon as Karis left.<p>

"Why is it automatically my fault?!" Tyrell said indignantly.

"Because it normally is," Matthew stated.

Tyrell frowned and rolled his sea-green eyes. "Well, oh great one, it just so happens that this particular mess is _your_ fault."

Matthew mirrored Tyrell's frown. "My fault? How is this _my _fault?! I don't even know how _this_ happened!"

"You were an idiot, that's how," Tyrell retorted.

"I'm going to need more details than that," Matthew said, looking around. They were inside a large, wooden, moving box. The walls were plain, and it's only distinguishing feature were the hammocks strung everywhere. Tyrell was sitting on a stool next to the one Matthew was in.

"What if I don't want to give them?"

"Then I won't tell you what I was dreaming about."

"You had another one?!" Tyrell asked, instantly concerned.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, but...it was weird. Like the one I had last night outside of Vault. It-" he stopped when Tyrell held up his hand.

"About that," Tyrell said hesitantly. "That wasn't last night. That was three nights ago."

Matthew stared at him dumbly. "What..?"

"You've been unconscious for two and a half days."

"WHAT?!"

"So you are awake." Both boys turned to look at the man who entered the caravan with the ease of long practice.

"You're-?"

"Hey Ivan," Tyrell said, rocking back and forth on his stool. "Yeah, he woke up." Matthew looked curiously at Tyrell. Was he _nervous_? What was so terrifying about the man in front of them? He looked rather familiar.

Then it clicked, and Matthew realized. "You're-!"

Ivan inclined his head to Matthew, pulling up his own stool and settling beside him. "That I am. But I much rather prefer to talk to people to get the information I want. Sometimes reading people's minds makes me feel rather disgusting."

Even with Ivan's reassurances, Matthew moved as far away as he possibly could. There were a lot of things in his mind he didn't want Ivan to see. Ivan chuckled at Matthew's reaction, albeit a bit sadly. "A lot of people react like that," Ivan told him.

"Sorry," Matthew said anyways. "I know being avoided isn't the nicest thing in the world."

Ivan managed a small smile at that before tousling Matthew's hair. When Matthew looked at him, he saw Ivan was just as surprised as he was, as if his hand had acted of its own volition. "Sorry," he apologized, before adding, "I have questions for you, and I want you to answer them honestly. If I feel you aren't, I'll look for the truth on my own, understand?"

Tyrell gulped as Matthew nodded. "When do we get to ask questions?"

"When I'm done. Now how is it you two know my daughter, Karis?" When Matthew looked accusingly at Tyrell, he shook his head violently. He hadn't spilled. "It's obvious to a father," Ivan remarked, causing Matthew to look back at him. The smile on his face now was anything but reassuring.

Matthew swore quietly.

* * *

><p>"Anything?" Jenna was desperate. Isaac shook his head wordlessly. Garet was just as quiet as he nursed the cut ear he had received from Carrie the night the dishes flew.<p>

"Nobody's seen them?" she whispered, sinking to her bed in Vault's Inn.

Isaac stood up stiffly and walked over and sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "It's been almost four days, Isaac," Jenna whispered to him as she buried her face in his chest. "I know that's not really very long at all, but to a mother, it is far, far too long."

"I know," Isaac said simply. "I know."

When Felix and Piers entered ten minutes later, it was to see the three parents deep in depression. And even though Carrie had been left behind because she was expecting, Felix could picture her in the exact same position and mood. Jenna looked up at them as they entered the borrowed room, hope and despair in her eyes in equal measure. "Anything?" she whispered.

"They went north," Felix said.

"To Imil."


	12. Chapter Eleven: Truth, Promise, and Fear

"You expect me to believe that?"

"No. But you wanted the truth. There it is."

Tyrell looked back and forth between the two people in front of him, fidgeting. Matthew was glaring at Ivan and rubbing the bruised elbow he had gained when he'd tried standing up earlier, but with the length of inactivity his legs couldn't support him and he had collapsed, taking Ivan down with him. Tyrell swore he did it on purpose.

"Is it my turn to ask questions now?" Matthew, irritated.

"No." Ivan, pissed. With that, Ivan closed his eyes and placed his hand on Matthew's forehead. Rings of violet psynergy surrounded both of them as Matthew tried to flinch away, but Ivan grabbed his shoulder in a vice-like grip and wouldn't let him.

"Hey-" Tyrell started, but was cut off by both of them crying out in pain as the psynergy rings went from violet to bright white. Matthew tore himself from Ivan's grip and threw himself backwards, bringing Tyrell to the floor with him this time. "Matt? What's wrong?!" Matthew was clutching his head, writhing in pain on the wooden planks.

Ivan too, was wincing and gasping, though he was not nearly in as much pain as Matthew. He wasted no time in lunging towards them. Tyrell moved in front of Matthew, trying to block his path, and so was completely caught off guard when Ivan grabbed his shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. Tyrell saw the violet rings appear for a second before searing pain erupted in his skull. Letting out a gasp, Tyrell retaliated to the pain the only way he knew how; throwing a mass of pure Mars Psynergy at the inflicter.

As the fireball propelled Ivan through the side of the caravan, Tyrell fell to the floor. He noticed his best friend was already unconscious, and wondered if this is what he felt like every time he had one of his 'episodes'. As his vision faded to black, he realized that if it was, he didn't envy him one bit.

* * *

><p><strong><em>The five year-old Tyrell crashed into him, knocking him to the cobblestones. "Oof," Matthew gasped.<em>**

**_"Matt!" Tyrell shrieked happily one more time, directly into his ear. Matthew winced, but otherwise didn't move. With Tyrell, it was best to let his enthusiastic affections run their course._**

**_Jumping up from the ground, Tyrell had barely helped Matthew to his feet when he noticed the green-haired girl holding her mother's hand. "Karis!" He threw his arms around her neck and the girl shrieked in delight, grinning and giggling._**

**_Jenna stifled her own giggles at the sight of her son's confused face. Matthew looked up at his mother, pleading for help, but Jenna just shrugged. She could summon up a firestorm, blow apart cracked rocks, and heal the most serious of injuries with a single word, but she could not retrieve a forgotten memory. Matthew frowned before looking back at Karis and Tyrell, then flinched and hid behind his father as Karis once again glared at him._**

**_"Why don't we go to Hammet's and talk for a while? The kids can play there." Karis once more glared at Matthew, who prayed for Judgment to just _kill him now.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>You never would have guessed that the sweet girl who had giggled when she'd been hugged could've turned into this screaming, raging monster.<br>"I had it FIRST!"_**

**_"But then you stopped playing with it!" Tyrell screamed back. Matthew groaned as the two bickering children gave him a headache the likes of which he'd never had before._**

**_"Nu-uh! I just put it to the side for a few seconds!"_**

**_"You stopped playing with it!"_**

**_'It' happened to be a Mercury Djinn plushie. Why they were arguing over that particular one when there were eight more scattered around the room was a complete mystery to Matthew. He figured they were just arguing for arguing's sake._**

**_The solved mystery was that he figured out why he'd chosen to forget his last encounter with the green-haired girl, if this was what she had been like. He was surprised Tyrell had chosen to remember her, with the way they were spewing hatred at each other. '_But_,' he thought as he watched his best friend pull on Karis' pigtails, '_maybe he likes her_.'_**

**_"Ow! Tyrell let go of my hair!" Karis stomped on Tyrell's foot, causing him to yelp in pain and release her hair, hopping up and down on his uninjured foot. As soon as she was free, instead of running for the door and her daddy like Matthew thought she would, she beelined in the opposite direction and hid behind him._**

**_"Stop hiding behind Matt!" Tyrell pouted as Karis stuck her tongue out at him._**

**_Matthew turned to tell her the same thing when he saw her face. Her bottom lip was sticking out and there were tears in her eyes, no doubt a reflex from Tyrell's hair pulling. With a defeated sigh, Matthew realized there was no way for him to stay out of this. "Stop being mean, Tyrell."_**

**_Tyrell's mouth dropped open. "You're taking _her_ side?!"_**

**_"You're the one being mean!" Karis told him from her spot behind Matthew._**

**_"Come on Matt!" Tyrell wheedled. "A silly promise like that is worth more than your best friend?"_**

**'Promise? What promise?_'_**

**_Obviously a promise he had made with Karis, with the way she was gloating and Tyrell was pouting. He looked around at her and she grinned up at him, in that trusting, childish way kids smile at their older brothers, and though Matthew didn't remember what, exactly, his promise with her was, he was going to do his best not to break it. He rather liked that smile._**

* * *

><p>"What exactly is the Contigo Caravan?" Jenna asked Piers as she knocked the Bat out of the air with a well-placed Fume. The group of adult Adepts were heading north, following behind the caravan.<p>

Piers looked a bit concerned as he began to answer. "Like Vale, they were a village of Adepts. Mostly, they were Jupiter Adepts, though occasionally a Mercury Adept would pop up."

Though this was a very serious occasion, Isaac couldn't help but feel a small bit of glee at the fact that there were Adepts from other places out there. "Wait, _were_?"

Piers nodded. "Unlike Vale, they were in full view of the world, and, well, they were different than everyone else."

"And people fear what is different and what they do not understand," Jenna said quietly. She had not truly understood how this was possible until two weeks ago. Until people had started hurting her baby.

"Yes." Piers paused, swallowing, as if the next words out of his mouth were going to physically hurt. "That fear caused the people of the surrounding villages to attack the village. The village of Contigo disappeared."

The Valeans stared at Piers incredulously. They couldn't believe that humans would do such a thing. Sensing their disbelief, Piers chuckled hollowly. "Hard to believe, but true. Then one day a few years later, this caravan shows up. It's chock full of descendants of the Anemos and calls itself Contigo; it's like the entire city just grew wheels instead of burning to the ground." Piers took a deep breath. "The strangest thing about all of this is that people don't fear them anymore. It's as if people started thinking _'Since they're travelers, the just must be tricksters. Everything they do is just an elaborate trick, and there's no reason to fear them_.'"

"You talk as if you know them," Garet said, narrowing his eyes.

"I met them once," Piers said shortly, anger beginning to smolder in his golden eyes.

"And what are they like?" Felix asked, half out of curiosity and half out of fear for his nephew.

Piers narrowed his own eyes. "They do not trust others, not even other adepts.

"If Matthew and Tyrell went with them, it was probably not by their choice."


	13. Chapter Twelve: Don't Tell

"You passed out as soon as you said Karis' name. You didn't freak, or scream, or get a headache, or ANYTHING—you just dropped. Nobody but me noticed 'cause they were all looking at the stage. And I freaked out, 'cause it was so sudden, and I started thinking, '_What if he starts screaming again?_' and I went from freaking out to full-blown panicking.

"That's when Ivan shows up. He just pops up outa nowhere and scares the living Hel outa me. Stares all creepily at us and everything. But he says he can help so I pick you up and follow him. I figured creepy help was better than no help at all.

"I followed him into the hammock room, put you into a hammock, and then suddenly I'm dead tired. I barely made it to the hammock next to you before I passed out too. I ain't ever fallen asleep that fast before. And when I woke up, we were moving and Karis was sitting near the wall looking at us like we were dirt.

"A few hours later, you woke up. You know what happened after that."

Matthew was silent for a few minutes after Tyrell finished explaining how they had ended up in what could only be described as a portable prison cell. After Ivan had fried both their brains and Tyrell had blasted him through the wall with a fireball, they'd fallen unconscious and woken up here. In a moving metal box with a strange stone outside of it that somehow drained and blocked their psynergy. Matthew felt like he was being swallowed by the black hole all over again, though it had long since stopped haunting his dreams.

Tyrell had no idea how close he was to completely falling apart.

"Hey Matt?" Tyrell asked timidly.

"What?" That came out an octave higher than Matthew liked, and his breathing was becoming quick and irregular. Sol, he could feel his psynergy getting dragged out of him, spiraling away as the evil-looking black stone placed purposely just out of reach pulsed in time with the push-pulling of his psynergy, and ah, Sol, it hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt-

Tyrell placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder, which grounded him a little, though he was still losing his psynergy. "Why did you lie to Ivan? I mean, I get trying to lie, but why not a believable one?"

"You didn't believe my 'Tale of Woe'?" Matthew shakily grinned, his voice unsteady but back in its usual range.

Tyrell sighed and shook his head, though he was grinning as well. "Matt, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are the worst. Actor. _EVER_. Even a three year-old wouldn't believe a word of that ridiculous story."

Matthew laughed a little at that before standing up and starting to pace. There wasn't a lot of room in their box, so he was really just spinning in a circle, but it worked for him. "I suppose it's because I wasn't really trying too hard to lie; I WANTED him to read my mind."

Tyrell stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "Why?"

Matthew sat down heavily. "I did try telling him truth at the beginning, really, I did," he sighed. "But for some reason, I just couldn't. I physically COULD NOT tell him. My brain went fuzzy and my tongue felt too big for my mouth and my eyes kinda unfocused every time I tried to tell him about the echoes. But I couldn't, so I told a ginormous lie so he'd read my mind."

"Why?" Tyrell repeated.

Matthew dragged his finger along the floor, drawing indiscernible shapes. "Because...he's been all over the world. I thought if he saw them, he might know what's wrong with me, or at least be able to tell me what some of the things and places in them are."

Tyrell could only watch as Matthew sank into depression, staring moodily at the stone. "But it backfired," he murmured, barely audible. "When Ivan tried to look at the echoes, he got repelled, and it hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt-"

Tyrell shook Matthew as he started slipping. "Don't look at it!" he said sharply. "That just makes it worse."

Matthew tore his gaze from the pulsing stone and looked at his best friend with hollow eyes. "It really hurts," he whimpered. "It won't leave me alone. Why won't it leave me alone?"

With a shock, Tyrell realized that Matthew was no longer fully there. He was half in that first nightmare, watching his best friends running away from him to save their own skins as he was swallowed up by darkness. "Come on Matt, snap out of it!" Tyrell growled, half angry, half fearful. "It's just a nightmare, that's all; only a dream."

"No it isn't!" Matthew said vehemently. He shoved Tyrell hard, pushing him into the wall. As Tyrell rubbed the new lump on his head, Matthew started yelling. "They aren't! They aren't just dreams and nightmares! They're more than that! I just don't. Know. WHAT!" After that, he buried his face in his knees. "I don't know what they are," he whispered. "You have no idea how terrifying that is, to have something inside your head that you don't understand."

Tyrell dropped his hand to his side, realizing that these 'echoes', as he called them, bothered him a lot more than he showed. "True," he said eventually, placing his hand on Matthew's head. "But you can share 'em with me, if that makes you feel any better."

Matthew turned his head sideways and looked up at Tyrell from the corner of his eye. "Yeah. It does. I've got three I haven't told you about. You up for story time?"

"Story time was my favorite part of school," Tyrell said, stretching out as far as he could. "I could take naps and no one would care."

Matthew, following his best friends example and stretching out, jabbed Tyrell in the side with his elbow. "Fall asleep and I'll cover you with Growth."

"I'll burn it."

"Greenwood doesn't burn fast enough. You'd suffocate yourself in the flames."

"Smart-ass."

"Moron."

"Spill already. What stupidity did we get ourselves into this time?"

"What makes you think we were acting stupid?"

Tyrell shrugged, happily noticing that talking seemed to improve Matthew's mood immensely, which was funny, because he was known in Vale for going sometimes weeks without speaking. "We're always acting stupid," he replied.

"Good point."

* * *

><p>Karis frowned as she listened to them talk about Matthew's strange dreams. If they could even be called that. The way he described them, they sounded like memories. But with the way Tyrell didn't know a thing about them, despite being in them, proved they never really happened. Or he was as stupid as he looked, which could have been a very real possibility had it not been for a key, crucial fact; Karis had no recollection of these things either.<p>

But Matthew _remembered_ her; as a bossy know-it-all friend, a small, temperamental child. He'd even spoken of The Promise. He couldn't remember what it was, but Karis could guess. It was the promise she had always wanted to make with a boy older than her, a promise she had never gotten to make. And he knew of it. "How does he know that?" she mused aloud.

"Know what?" Ivan entered the room. It was little more than a closet attached to the holding cell, allowing them to eavesdrop.

"Dad," she said, surprised. "I thought you had things to do."

"I finished them. Now, _what do they know_?" Karis knew her father was incredibly concerned and paranoid. She couldn't blame him. He had watched his home burn down around him. But so had she. And she remembered the time before that, when her dad had greeted every stranger with a smile, instead of a hostile glare.

"It's...kinda hard to explain, because they're continuing a conversation they had before, but I think I have all the major pieces," Karis answered. "As far as I can tell, Matthew, he-" and suddenly, her mind went blank.

"He what?" Ivan prodded after she had stayed quiet for a few seconds.

Karis shook her head, attempting to get rid of the fog that clouded it, and began again. "He-" But now it was her tongue that wouldn't work. _'But for some reason, I just couldn't. I physically COULD NOT tell him. My brain went fuzzy and my tongue felt too big for my mouth and my eyes kinda unfocused every time I tried to tell him about the echoes. But I couldn't._' Matthew's words echoed in her head, and suddenly, she just _knew_.

Karis moved her father's hand off her forehead where he had placed it, worried for her health when she couldn't speak. "I think," she said slowly, "that there is something happening to those boys." She stared directly into her father's violet eyes so he would understand how serious this was, and that it was the absolute truth. "And I think that only those people involved are allowed to know what it is.

"And I think I am one of them."


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Feels Like Normal

"It's f-f-freezing here!" Matthew complained, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck.

Tyrell nudged him, causing the blond youth to stumble on the ice. "Don't complain. At least we get to walk now, right?"

Matthew looked at him with a baleful gaze. "And that's supposed to make me feel better why?" he grouched.

"Wasn't staying in that thing making you sick?" Tyrell asked, motioning towards the monster-drawn caravans. "Since it kept you off the earth and all?"

Matthew continued to glare murderously at Tyrell. He was obviously _not_ in a good mood. "Yes. But I'm still not standing on earth."

"Then what are we standing on? 'Cause it feels like earth to me."

Matthew mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'Mars Adepts', but could've been 'Moron'. Tyrell could never tell with Matthew. "Water. Layers of frozen water over earth, but still water."

Tyrell nodded as he understood. "So you're grumpy 'cause you're walking on ice."

"Is that a Venus Adept trait?" Karis asked, interested. Even after a week, Tyrell still couldn't get used to her watching their every move. The compromise to letting them walk was that they had a babysitter.

"Must just be a Matt thing," Tyrell replied, still slightly annoyed at having a babysitter. Like Matthew was going to run away in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Tyrell wasn't sure he would either, and the cold didn't even bother him. "Isaac never got this mad at ice, at least."

"Dad's just better at hiding it, is all," Matthew grumbled, slipping on another patch of ice. Then a strong gust of wind blew, causing the already off-balance Earth Adept to fall face-first into a snowdrift. "Why are we even in this Sol-forsaken tundra?!" he yelled when he finally sat up.

A few others of the caravan looked over at them at Matthew's outburst. Tyrell might not have been the smartest person, but even he could see a pattern to the way people looked at them. The ones their age and older looked at them with guarded hostility; the younger ones with open curiosity. When he'd brought it up to Matthew, he'd been told to 'leave it alone.' He didn't really want to, but he also had enough problems. No need to add another one to the list.

"You're here because Dad decided to keep you around for whatever reason," Karis replied, straight faced.

Matthew glared at her. "Your face is gonna freeze like that, Matt," Tyrell remarked, grinning widely.

"It already has." Matthew finally stood up, brushing off the snow that still clung to his clothes. Then, turning to Karis, Matthew rephrased his question. "Why are YOU in this Sol-forsaken tundra?"

"Better," Karis said, flashing a grin that made Tyrell want to punch her in the face. Then, her face turning serious, she said, "We're here because our travels around Weyard are really just us going from one of the Elemental Lighthouses to the other."

"The what?" both boys chorused.

* * *

><p>Isaac, Piers, and Felix followed behind Jenna and Garet as the two Fire Adepts burned a path through the snow, following the cart tracks. "What if they leave before we get there?" Jenna voiced the worry none of the parents wanted to speak.<p>

Piers quickly told them that worry was unnecessary, as there was only one road in and out of Imil. If the caravan was to leave before the group got there, they would pass each other on the road.

"So now it depends on the boy's ability to stay out of trouble," Garet figured.

"They're doomed," Isaac replied.

Jenna whacked him with her staff.

* * *

><p>The phrase 'Elemental Lighthouses' rang a bell in Matthew's mind. A warning one. But, as he was starting to more and more often, he ignored it.<br>Karis, however, was staring at them as if she couldn't believe what had just come out of their mouths. "You don't know what the Elemental Lighthouses are?"

"We grew up in a town cut off from the rest of the world," Tyrell reminded her. "Just assume we don't know anything about anything."

Karis looked skeptical but began to explain. "The Elemental Lighthouses stand sentinel over Weyard; they keep it from a grave disaster. There are four, one for each element; Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and the one we're heading to in Imil is the Mercury Lighthouse.

"We travel to the Lighthouses every year to make sure they haven't been tampered with."

One detail of Karis' story stood out to Matthew. "What are they guarding Weyard from?" he asked, his curiosity temporarily overriding his bad mood.

"How do you tamper with a lighthouse?" Tyrell asked at the same time.

Karis shrugged in answer. "Nobody knows," she said to both questions. "Most people here in Contigo don't believe it either," she told them, noticing their skeptical looks. "But Dad does, and no one liked the thought of him wandering around Weyard without them, so here we all are," she said, gesturing at everyone around them.

When she gestured, Matthew instinctively looked around them and noticed people staring intensely at them. Seeing the hostility in their eyes, Matthew shuddered and shrank inward. He was still unused to having hatred aimed at him.

Tyrell had noticed the staring too, and was uncomfortable, though not as much as Matthew was. He tried to ignore it, but the only thing he managed to ignore was Matthew's advice. "Since you're in the answering questions mood, how about telling us why everybody here hates us?"

"Tyrell!" Matthew hissed.

"What?" Tyrell said defensively. "I don't like not knowing why everyone's glaring at me. It makes me run through everything I've done to piss people off and wonder what it is they're mad about."

"Must take you a while, that has to be a pretty long list," Matthew shot back. "You've done a lot of things and pissed off a lot of people."

"Yeah, but I haven't done anything to these people!"

"Yet," Matthew grumbled.

"Oh I get it," Tyrell said angrily. "This is you just being mad at everyone 'cause you can't be mad at ice. Well, let me just-" Tyrell's rant was interrupted by Karis smacking both him and Matthew upside the head. "What was that for?!"

"It's bad manners to ask a question and then not listen to the answer," Karis replied. "I don't mind telling you," she said, noticing Matthew's look of uncertainty. "I mean, it _is_ kinda the reason Dad is making you stay.

"Eleven years ago, we used to be a town. We lived near the Jupiter Lighthouse, so many of us were blessed with the gift of the winds. But the towns around us didn't see it as a blessing; they believed it was a curse." Matthew flinched at the word 'curse'. Karis didn't notice as she continued to speak, her eyes misting over as she remembered what happened. "So one night, Contigo was attacked. Thanks to my Aunt Hama-"

"Who?" Tyrell interrupted.

"The fortune-teller," Matthew said absently. Karis glanced at him curiously before continuing her tale.

"Yes. She foretold the attack and everyone was able to evacuate, but we all watched our homes burn in front of our eyes." Karis shook herself, as if that would rid her of the memory, and then smiled at them. Both could tell the smile was fake. "It was a long time ago, but some of us haven't got over it."

"So, why keep us around?" Tyrell asked, stretching. Despite the howling wind, Tyrell was dressed in the yellow and green short-sleeved tunic he was always wearing.

"Huh?"

"You don't like us, you don't trust us," Tyrell listed. "Why not just let us leave?"

"Many people here have asked Dad the same question," Karis told him. "He always replies with, 'Don't question my decisions.'"

"And when you asked?" Matthew questioned. "Don't say you didn't, because I know you did," he said when Karis opened her mouth to argue.  
>Snapping her mouth shut, Karis whirled around and stalked off, fuming.<p>

"Hey!" Tyrell yelled, running after her. "You can't run!" he yelled when she started sprinting away from him. "I'm curious now! Nothing can save yoooooou!"

The people of Contigo turned to stare as Tyrell chased Karis down the road, demanding to know the answer to Matthew's question. Matthew chuckled at them, continuing his leisurely pace. Likely, if he tried running after them, he'd trip. Karis was screaming at Tyrell, causing wind to throw biting snow at his face, but Tyrell being the hot-headed Fire Adept he was, was unbothered.

"C'mooon, spill!" Tyrell yelled, finally having caught her.

"Never!" Karis spat at him. Matthew noticed that the people around them were glaring daggers at Tyrell, though they made no move to remove his hand from her wrist. Maybe it was because they knew she could take care of herself. But Matthew thought it was more likely that they weren't helping was because even though Karis was spitting and screaming at Tyrell, she was smiling and having the time of her life. Karis didn't strike Matthew as they type of person who smiled often.

Matthew smiled softly to himself. Here, in the middle of a frozen wasteland miles from everything and one he knew, he had finally found something that felt like normal. What a strange, happy feeling. Then another strong gust of wind sent the Venus Adept into the snow. He sighed. Happy feeling or not, it wouldn't change one simple fact.

"I really hate this place," he mumbled into the snowdrift.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Everything's Past

Karis rocked back and forth in her hammock, thinking, as Matthew and Tyrell settled into their own hammocks. Matthew was reminding Tyrell that no matter how cold he was, he _did not_ want to be set on fire.

"You'd be warmer," Tyrell argued.

"I'd be dead," Matthew pointed out. "And if I wasn't, I would be on fire, which if you aren't a Mars Adept, is a very _un_pleasant experience."

"When did this happen?" Karis asked, intrigued. When Matthew looked curiously at her, Karis told him, "Reminders like that only exist when the transgression has happened before."

"It was one time!" Tyrell said defensively.

"Once is enough to scar for life," Matthew said, showing Karis his left shoulder. Sure enough, a burn scar covered it.

"He set you on fire because you were cold?" Karis was amused.

"I was _helping_!"

"We were fishing," Matthew ignored Tyrell. "Our dads had gone off somewhere; I can't remember where, exactly, but I know they weren't watching us. Tyrell had just caught a fish, and it was huge! Well, it was to us. But it had splashed us with a lot of water, and it wasn't a warm day; it was actually rather windy.

"I started shivering and Tyrell said he could start a fire 'cause he'd been practicing. We were only around eight at the time, so using even a little bit of psynergy was a huge accomplishment for us. So of course, I wanted to see him do it, and the next thing I knew my shoulder was on fire."

"It was an accident! I was aiming for the stick!" Tyrell tried defending himself.

Matthew stared scathingly at him. "The one you were holding? Great aim. You know, I'm surprised Garet taught you how to throw fireballs, considering the way you aim."

"You are never going to let it go, are you?"

"Nope."

"I wouldn't."

"Don't take his side Karis!"

"What reason is there for her to take yours? You set me on _fire_."

"ONCE!"

* * *

><p>Ivan stared at the caravan that held the two boys and his daughter. He didn't like this. Not at all. But after what he had seen (or rather, not seen) in Matthew's mind, he believed his daughter when she said something big was happening. He just didn't like the fact that Karis was apparently a part of it.<p>

From the caravan came the sound of the boys arguing, a sound he and his people had grown used to over the week. There was also another sound Ivan was still trying to get used to; his daughter laughing. It had been eleven years since the last time he had heard Karis laugh this freely, and he wished he could've been the cause.

Instead, it was those boys. Those boys that had come out of nowhere, knowing things, impossible things. And when they returned to nowhere, despite his best attempts to keep them near, Ivan knew that Karis would go with them. Even if she hadn't overheard them talking and found out what she had, he knew she would have went with them.

The three of them fit together. A stranger would think they had been friends their entire lives.

* * *

><p>Matthew glanced over at Karis. She was frowning as she closed her eyes, feigning sleep. "Something on your mind, Karis?" Matthew asked, not falling for it.<p>

Karis' eyes popped open with surprise. "How do you do that?" she asked.

Matthew blinked in confusion. "Well, I open my mouth and make sound, and based on the way my mouth is shaped the sound turns into words-"

Karis threw her pillow at him. "I meant how do you read people so well? You met me a week ago, and yet it's like you've known me forever."

Tyrell chuckled. "He's always been like this. It used to freak people out when we were little."

"Really?"

Matthew flinched as he threw Karis' pillow back at her. She didn't believe them, he could tell, but that part was actually true. It's just that with Karis, there was a little extra to go on. But he didn't want her to know that.

"Yeah," Tyrell nodded. "It got to the point where some people wouldn't talk around him because he could tell when they were lying."

"Apparently, there is nothing scarier to an adult than a six year-old asking them why they're lying," Matthew finished.

"So you're just really good with people," Karis murmured. "But that doesn't explain..."

"Explain what?" Matthew asked after a few minutes of silence.

Even from across the room, Matthew could see Karis' uncertainty. The way she was biting her lip, her eyes flicking left and right; she was steeling herself. "How you knew about my promise," she blurted out.

"Promise? What promise?" That was Tyrell, but Matthew didn't have to ask what she was talking about.

He narrowed his eyes. "You were eavesdropping."

"Of course I was," Karis nodded. "You'd be surprised what people say when they think they're alone. But I have to admit, I wasn't expecting something like that."

"You heard that?" Tyrell was more intrigued than angry.

Karis nodded again. "Yes. And when I tried to tell my father what I had heard, I couldn't." She stared at Matthew. "I found it impossible."

For a few more silent minutes, the teens stared at each other. The silence was broken by Matthew sighing. "I suppose this is the part where we fill you in?"

Karis smiled brightly. "Yes."

"No." The sharp answer came from both Matthew and Tyrell.

Karis only looked mildly surprised, as if she had expected that. "Why not?" But she said it in a way that made Matthew sure she already knew the answer.

He said it anyways. "I don't want other people getting involved," he said sourly, anticipating what was coming next.

"So it's okay for the idiot to be involved, but not me?"

"Hey!"

"Tyrell's different. Idiot though he may be-"

"Matt!"

"-he's still my best friend, and I've known him for years. Besides, he _is _involved." Too late, Matthew realized he'd fallen into a trap.

Karis smiled triumphantly. "Because of your dreams? In that case, so am I."

"I am not an idiot!"

"We have passed that point of the conversation, Tyrell," Matthew informed his best friend, rubbing his temple.

"Then what part are we at?"

"The part where you and Matthew tell me everything that's going on," Karis told him, grinning wickedly. Funnily enough, she reminded Matthew of his mother when she smiled like that. A smile that could tear you to shreds.

"And I do mean _everything_."


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Imil

"Welcome to Imil boys," Karis said as they crested the hill, grinning at their expressions. Despite the cold weather, the Imilians had thrived. Imil wasn't a large city, but it was well thought out and sturdy. Surrounded by a river encased in ice, the many houses showed no sign of wear and tear, despite the feet of snow they were buried in. Karis thought that the shock on Matthew's face was because so many people chose to remain living in the cold. Or it was the giant tower looming over the town.

"What is _that_?" Tyrell gasped, trembling a little.

"That is the Mercury Lighthouse," Ivan replied, coming up the hill behind them.

"I didn't expect it to be so...large," Matthew said faintly, his eyes locked on to the point in the clouds where the lighthouse disappeared. Karis stared at Matthew. Most people, upon seeing any of the lighthouses for the first time, tended to act like Tyrell; trembling in apprehension, subconsciously edging away, as if some hidden instinct was screaming, "_Danger!_" Matthew's eyes were reflecting none of that. Instead, they were filled with excitement and...awe?

Matthew leaned forward a bit, setting off alarm bells in Karis' head. Tyrell's too, as he reached for Matthew, saying, "Hey Matt, be care-"

His warning was a second too late as, with an undignified shriek, Matthew slipped and tumbled down the hill.

"-ful," Tyrell finished lamely, his fist closed around Matthew's scarf, the only thing he'd been able to stop from falling.

"Does this happen often?" Ivan asked, watching with them as Matthew expertly tucked himself into a ball, managing to control his descent to some extent. Until he hit the river and skidded across the ice into the town itself.

"Every damn winter," Tyrell replied. "Sol, he's so clumsy on ice."

* * *

><p>Groaning, Matthew clamped his eyes shut, knowing from past experiences that if he opened them, the world would spin and make him nauseous. The humiliation would set in later, but that didn't matter now. The thing that mattered now was that he had stopped moving, and he could feel blessed earth pressed against his back. He would have whimpered in relief had he not thought it pathetic.<p>

For a minute, Matthew just reveled in the solidity of the earth beneath him before realizing something was pressed against his stomach. Confused, he cracked open his eyes and only saw blue. Now completely lost, he opened his eyes fully and attempted to sit up, hearing another groan. This groan didn't come from him. It came from the person flopped over his stomach. The person he had apparently bowled over.

"I'm sorry," Matthew managed to gasp out, winded from their collision. The person sat up, the blue robes that were obscuring Matthew's vision moving with him, and as Matthew sat up he could see who he'd knocked on top of him upon his entry to town.

"You were certainly in a hurry to get here," the blue-haired boy remarked, adjusting his skewed spectacles.

Matthew frowned as he stared at the boy in front of him. Shoulder length light blue hair, ice-blue eyes covered by round spectacles that made him look older than he was. He was wearing heavy robes suited for the cold weather, and half of Matthew felt jealous. The other half was wondering why the boy looked so familiar. "It was an accident. I slipped."

"Down the hill?"

"Yes," Matthew said sourly, wondering if the boy would either sigh quietly or laugh openly at his incompetence like everyone at Vale did. To his surprise, he did neither.

Instead, the boy leaned over at began prodding and examining him for injuries. "Are you alright? Sore anywhere?"

Matthew moved away from the boy's searching hands and began standing up. "No, I don't think-" Matthew stopped talking to hiss in pain as his ankle throbbed.

"That doesn't sound like fine to me," the boy remarked as Matthew quickly sat back down to take the weight off of his left ankle.

"It's nothing," Matthew said, reaching down for the earth. His skills in Healing Psynergy were almost non-existent, but they were better than leaving his ankle on its own. "Just twisted my ankle, is all."

"That isn't 'nothing'," the boy said, shaking his head. "Hold still." Before Matthew could ask why, the boy's fingertips brushed against his injured ankle, and he turned...blue. No, he was glowing blue. Matthew didn't have time to piece together what was happening before the boy stood up, dusting the snow off his robes. "Try not to slip again," he said, picking up a staff Matthew hadn't even noticed and leaving before Matthew could get a word out.

"Wait-" he finally said. But the boy had already turned the corner. When Matthew stood up to follow him, he found he could stand. His ankle had completely healed. '_Was he...using psynergy?_'

* * *

><p>Karis and Tyrell found Matthew right on the edge of town, alternating from staring at the ground to staring down the street in the direction of the town center. "Oh good, you're okay," Tyrell said, relieved. Matthew didn't even look at them in acknowledgement. "Uh, Matt?" Tyrell snapped his fingers in front of Matthew's face to get his attention. No response. "Weyard to Matthew, are you in there?" Nothing. "Matt?" Tyrell was so close to panicking when Matthew turned to look at them.<p>

"Hullo," Matthew said, a vacant expression on his face. "When did you guys get here?"

"Matthew, are you alright?" Karis asked, gently touching his wrist. That tiny gesture seemed to ground Matthew, his eyes sharpening and focusing on his surroundings.

"Oh... Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, still staring down the street.

"What are you looking at?" Tyrell asked, following his gaze.

"Nothing," Matthew said absently. Then he turned to Karis. "Are there Adepts here in Imil?"

While Tyrell was confused by the subject change, Karis nodded in understanding. "Quite a few Mercury Adepts are born here because of Imil's proximity to the lighthouse. They're mainly healers; the Mercury Clan aren't well-versed in attack psynergy, and, like Wind Adepts, are born more on the slight side, making any physical strength they may have rather low."

"I see." Matthew returned to staring down the street. "So I was right."

"Er, Matt?" Tyrell started as Matthew began walking down the road he was staring at. When Matthew didn't stop he jogged after him. "Where are you going?"

"Following him," was the vague reply.

"Following who?" Karis asked, catching up with them. Seeing Matthew's eyes, bright and sharp, made her wonder what was going on. He was obviously thinking clearly, so why was it so hard to understand what he was talking about?

"The boy."

"Why?" Tyrell asked like he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Because he looks familiar. Give me my scarf back, it's freezing."

* * *

><p>Rief mentally berated himself as he walked through his hometown, greeting everyone he passed. '<em>Stupid, stupid, stupid! Mom's told you time and time again not to heal strangers! But she also says to always help someone in need... But! They could be people who would attack if they know what we could do! But, he seemed so innocent, like a child before he's seen the world, still believing in fairy-tale endings—<em>'

"Dammit!" Rief said, grabbing his head. "Mom's gonna kill me," he mumbled.

"Why? What did you do?" Nowell, his older sister, was standing behind him with her arms crossed.

"Um, no-nothing really," Rief said nervously, edging away from her. His sister could slap hard, sometimes with enough force to leave a bruise. "Nothing at all."

Nowell raised one eyebrow. "You're fidgeting," she observed. "And Mom wouldn't kill you over nothing. So, what did you do?"

Rief backed further away before telling her. "I just healed his ankle."

"Whose ankle?" Nowell snapped, angry and fearful at the same time.

Rief shrugged. "I don't know. A kids."

"You don't know who he was? What if he was hostile?" Nowell's voice was bordering on hysterical. Then it fell to a whisper. "What if he's one of THEM?" Nowell grabbed his hand and began leading him home quickly.

"I don't think he was," Rief hurriedly reassured her. "I've never seen him before, and he felt...different than they do."

"Just because you've never seen him before doesn't mean he isn't with them. He could be new."

"Doubtful. The people of Contigo are even more untrusting than you and Mom; I doubt they'd take in a random stranger."

Nowell thought this over for a bit. "I suppose," she said slowly. "But Rief, you need to be more careful anyways. Contigo is here again."

"It's that time of the year already?" Unlike the dread in his sisters tone , Rief was eager. "Do you think Mom will take us with her this year?"

"Probably not," Nowell admitted, her disappointment mirrored on her brother's face. "But we can hope, right?"

"Right," Rief said, looking up at the Lighthouse his Clan had guarded since it's creation. Perhaps this would be the year he saw the top.

Perhaps this would be the day he reached the Aerie.


End file.
